Frey's NFL Picks of the Week: Week 11

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends

Not with a bang but a whimper.

--T.S. Eliot

We deserved better.

He deserved better.

Peyton Manning’s gut-wrenching performance against a very pedestrian Chiefs defense was almost terrifying in its hideosity.

For every John Elway (a man whose exit from the great stage was matched in perfection and panache only by Humphrey Bogart’s foggy night airport stroll with Claude Rains), there are a thousand Brett Farves, Joe Theismans, or Dan Marinos.

Following the ignominious benching of a legend last week, I was initially reminded of the scene in Surf’s Up where surfing icon Big ‘Z’ realized, to his horror, that his days at the top were over and that no amount of sacrifice was ever going to make him who he once was.

Now that I have had a week to reflect, Peyton’s situation appears to be more akin to the demise of General George S. Patton.

Both men enjoyed a strong pedigree in their chosen professions.  The enjoyed early successes, escaped injury when so many others fell, and accomplished things in the field that nobody thought possible.  They toiled ceaselessly to be the best at their craft, overcoming physiological limitations with creativity, ingenuity, and an insatiable thirst for victory.

Both were considered by friend and foe alike to be among the greatest of their era who, at the top of their games, suffered terrible setbacks to their careers that would have doomed lesser men.  Patton and Peyton defied monstrous odds when most people thought they were done for and added even more laurels to their already distinguished careers.

Then disaster.  Only months after the German surrender in WW II, George S. Patton, the man who had survived so many brushes with death and overcome so many setbacks, was grievously injured in a freak, low-speed car accident. 

In terrible agony, he lingered on, refusing to give up despite the fact that everyone around him knew he was finished.  The fight never left the man but his body ultimately betrayed him and he finally departed history not with a glorious crescendo, but with sad understatement.

Peyton Manning’s time is done.  A blind man can see it from a mile away.  In fact, we have all been blinded by his resume, by his demeanor, by his fire. 

We blamed the scheme.  We trashed the offensive line.  We lambasted the running backs.

But let us now, on the eve of day 1 of the Brock Osweiler era, admit to what our eyes have told us ever since the debacle in St. Louis in 2014 and free ourselves of this misguided scapegoatery.   He is but a shadow now.

It should have ended better for great warriors like these.

It would have been so much easier to reconcile the end had he blown out a knee, or tweaked his back, or torn a rotator cuff.  Instead, he lingers on, like the great general 70 years ago, the will to fight still blazing in his eyes.

The blade of the magnificent warrior has been dulled.  His armor lay in tatters. His sword-arm hanging limply at his side, ruined from the vanquishing of too many foes.

The great tragedy with Peyton Manning lay not in the fact that he has fought too many battles and that the sun is setting on a storied career, but that this great ambassador of the game, this ultimate competitor, this man with whom rests every meaningful passing record has become an object of our pity.

He deserved better…..

Dallas Cowboys @ Miami Dolphins (+1 ½)

Definitive proof of the existence of karma:

Carolina’s record since releasing Greg Hardy:  9-0

Dallas’ record since Greg Hardy returned from suspension to play for them:  0-7

By all means Dallas...Enjoy your owner.  He thinks a felonious assaulter of women is "a team leader".

Take the ‘fins and feel good about your soul.

San Francisco 49ers (+13) @ Seattle Seahawks

Did you know that a Blaine Gabbert led team has never lost a game to Seattle coming off a bye week?

Yep.  They are currently 0-0 and will soon be 0-1.

They’ll just be 0-1 with a backdoor cover.

Cincinnati Bengals @ Arizona Cardinals (-2 ½)

I just got done checking the injury report. 

Amazingly, I STILL do not see Carson Palmer listed on it.

Carson Palmer usually looks like one of these guys by week 6 except he is actually really hurt.

Something evil is afoot my friends but I think the fact that Cincinnati is 8-1 kind of cancels out the weirdness when it comes to this game at least.

I expect this to be an awesome game but I like the Cards by more than a field goal here.

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings (-1)

I have now seen the Packers play 3 weeks in a row.

They’re awful.  Even the corpse of Peyton Manning looked like Steve Young against these guys.

They cannot run the ball.  They can’t stop the run.

Minnesota excels at both and is at home.

This game screams “reputation spread” and could be gold for anyone smart enough to sniff it out.

On the other hand…

Week 8 Record:  3-1

Season Record: 26-13-1

Trap Game Record: 5-5